photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A Lawrence Police Department patrol vehicle is pictured June 28, 2022.

Three Lawrence city commissioners had a paper bag with a brick and a note waiting for them when they got home from the City Commission meeting on Tuesday, according to Lawrence police.

Vice Mayor Mike Dever and Commissioners Brad Finkeldei and Lisa Larsen each received the items on the porches of their homes. The notes all read: “We know you are violating your own law to displace and kill the homeless. We know that on April 15th you intend to change that law in order to cover up and justify your violations. We strongly advise you to end your abuses of the homeless, stop destroying their camps, and cease your plans to permanently displace and remove them from this city.”

All appear to have been left during the City Commission meeting Tuesday night, police said in a news release Saturday. Officers responded to each of the homes, and “circumstances at each home varied, but the delivery was the same,” police said. One commissioner’s home was empty when the bag was delivered, and it was untouched when officers arrived. One commissioner had family visiting from out of town, and another had a family member discover the message and bring it inside.

“We simply have enough division on the streets,” Police Chief Rich Lockhart said in the release. “There is no room for turning political differences into a potentially criminal act. There is a forum to voice your political beliefs and disrupting the feeling of safety and security of our leaders’ families does nothing to unite our community or advance any cause.”

Mayor Bart Littlejohn, in the release, added: “As City Commissioners, we condemn the recent harassment tactics targeting our colleagues, as they do not align with the values of civil discourse and mutual respect in our community. Such actions are counterproductive and will not be tolerated as we work together to address homelessness and ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all.”

Officers collected the bricks and other materials for processing.

Investigators have identified a person of interest, interviewed the person and issued him a trespass warning for all city commissioners’ homes, the release said. The investigation is ongoing.

As the Journal-World reported, the city closed its support site for the homeless in North Lawrence last month, but it has continued to provide electricity, drinking water and food to individuals remaining in the nearby unsanctioned camp, one of many that have sprung up around the city as Lawrence’s homeless population has dramatically increased in recent years. The city has said that it is helping people in unsanctioned camps access shelter and services before April 15, when camping will no longer be allowed in Lawrence’s Central Business District.

The city is currently a defendant in a lawsuit brought by numerous Lawrence businesses, who claim that the way the city has dealt with the homeless issue has created a “vagrancy crisis.” That case is scheduled to go to trial in January 2025.